


something has to give

by graciegrace



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Not-Quite First Kiss, aged up (they’re about 16-17), pre-reveal Ladynoir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 09:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22847857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graciegrace/pseuds/graciegrace
Summary: Very little had changed in their relationship, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want it to.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 4
Kudos: 82





	something has to give

**Author's Note:**

> Despite reading a lot of Love Square fics, I’d never written any myself. This is my attempt at my favorite dynamic of theirs, and the recent finishing of a (super old) draft. I hope you enjoy it!

Marinette wasn’t sure how it happened. One day after a battle when they were sixteen - a particularly close call - she remembered sighing in relief, looking over to see Chat Noir unharmed, a tired smile on his face, hand out for a celebratory fist bump. Instead, somehow, her lips met his, gently and quick, and the two of them stood there for a second, eyes closed, just breathing as their foreheads touched. And then, unavoidably, the tiny little beeping in her ear told her it was time to go, so she did, flashing him a quick, shy smile (since when had Ladybug been shy?), before vaulting off the rooftops. She didn’t remember the specifics of the event; she couldn’t remember what she was thinking as she sat in her room that evening, or what his face had looked like in that second before she jumped off- probably shocked, but she didn’t know. Her brain felt jumbled, like a shockwave had ripped through everything she knew. 

Surprisingly, however, very little had changed in their relationship. They rarely met up outside Akuma attacks, though a few times Chat had called her to ask if they could just sit together for a while and talk, so he could escape. Marinette wasn’t really sure what he meant, but she figured his life behind the mask wasn’t as easy as hers. She was the lucky one, after all. But other than that, things were the same. They chatted after battles sometimes, but it wasn’t any different. No nearly-imperceptible little changes in the way they looked at each other. Same casual touching, casual flirting, casual teasing. 

How could something have felt so huge and so insignificant at the same time? 

Everything continued to not change until one day in April, when Ladybug and Chat Noir were stretched out on a roof catching their breath, earrings and ring softly chirping at them. Chat had smiled at her, ready to pounce away, when she caught his wrist, startling the both of them. 

“Can... we talk?” Ladybug asked haltingly. Chat glanced at her earrings significantly, and she shook her head. “I mean... do you have food for your- your kwami?” He nodded, still silent. It was like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She didn’t know how to make this any less tense, even though it shouldn’t have been in the first place. “Could we meet up, back here, in ten minutes? ...Please?” 

Chat squeezed her hand gently. “Yeah. I’ll be right back.” And he disappeared off the other side of the building. 

Marinette sat behind a fire escape right as her transformation fell, and she instinctively reached into her purse to pull out some cookies. “Here you go, Tikki.” 

The kwami took them quietly, munching as she looked up at the teenager. “Is anything wrong, Marinette?” 

She shook herself out of her thoughts, and looked down at Tikki with a smile. “No, Tikki, don’t worry. I’ve been thinking, but nothing’s wrong. Is it okay if we transform back for a little bit so I can talk to Chat Noir?” 

Tikki swallowed and nodded thoughtfully. “It shouldn’t be a problem. You’re both very responsible with your powers. I’m ready whenever you are.” 

And Tikki gave Marinette that patented encouraging smile only the kwami could give, and Marinette took a deep breath in. “Okay, then. Tikki, spots on!” she commanded, and Ladybug jumped back up to the roof, leaning back on the ventilator hood.

Only seven minutes had passed when Chat Noir reappeared on top of the roof, smiling and looking a little less wiped, but with blond hair just as messy as usual. He sauntered over to Ladybug and sat down next to her, legs nearly touching but not quite. They were just like they always were, casually close. 

That’s what was bothering her. 

“So, Milady, you wanted to talk?” He gave her that half-coy smile, just sincere enough to get her to open up without being pushy. He was always good with people. 

Ladybug let out a little half-hearted laugh. “I really should have figured out what I wanted to say.” 

Chat shrugged. “Thinking on the spot is kind of your speciality. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” 

Ladybug looked out to Paris, eyes tracing the details of the Sacré-Cœur in the distance. Did transforming enhance her vision? She’d never considered it. Maybe. She wished it helped other things. She inhaled, slowly, and turned back to Chat with half a smile. 

“Has anything changed between us?” 

Chat Noir turned his body towards her, inclining his head slightly. “I’d like to think so,” he said thoughtfully. “We’ve been doing this for nearly three years now, and we’ve become, or at least I hope we’ve become, really close.” His cheeks were reddish, vibrant green eyes almost shy. Did he not have a lot of friends? “In any case, our teamwork has gotten better by leaps and bounds.” 

Ladybug bit her lower lip slightly. His answer didn’t give her the enlightenment she hoped for. This seemed so easy for her friends. She’d watched Alya and Nino meld together almost instantly, Rose and Juleka’s hugs get longer and hands held more often. Even with Adrien she’d found it easier to breathe and act like a normal person, being his friend. Why was it so hard for her to make it work with Chat? 

She considered reaching out to his hand, deliberately and gently, leaving time for them to reconsider. But why should they? They were close friends, they were partners. It needed to be casual, like everything seemed to be with them. 

So she let out the breath she’d been holding, and leaned onto him, head resting in the crook of his neck. He hesitated, just for a second, tense after their conversation, but immediately relaxed and put his arm around her, pulling her even closer. 

It was breezy, just a little cold as the sun moved down through the sky, and Chat was warm. He always seemed so warm. 

“Ladybug,” he started quietly, and she shook her head slightly from her place on his shoulder. 

“Just give me one more minute. I want to enjoy this. Here... with you.” 

Marinette could feel the rise and fall of his chest as he took a deep, slow breath. “Okay,” he said, and she steeled herself, watching the last of the sun’s rays glint off his blond hair. She resisted the urge to pat it into place, instead pulling back from her place curled up next to him to meet his eyes. He seemed quiet, pensive. A little worried. Not like his usual self. 

“I kissed you,” she said. His eyebrows show up, and immediately she winced at how blunt it had come out. “I mean... that time, a few months ago, we kissed. I just... I don’t know. I expected you to mention it, or for something to change.” 

He looked at her a little surprised, which was fair, she thought, considering she rarely had her foot this far in her mouth behind the mask. “I didn’t bring it up because I didn’t want to pressure you into anything. It’s a bit of a high-stress job, you know,” he said laughing a bit, “and I figured it might have just been something you didn’t want to mention. I figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would.” 

Oh, Ladybug thought. “You... you were waiting for me to say something. I’m... oh geez.” She put a hand on her face, cheeks a little red. “I feel like a doofus.” 

“You’ll always be the smartest girl in the world to me,” Chat offered, and she uncovered her eyes to meet his, letting her hand fall to her side, just a little bit closer to his own. 

“I told you before that I loved another boy, and that might honestly still be a little bit true.” Ladybug looked down at her hands nervously. “But I think...” she started, nerves beginning to falter. “I think I just want to be his friend. I think... what this is... is different.” 

His foot was lightly tapping on the roof of the building, and the slight sound of his constant overactivity was soothing. “This?” he asked gently. 

Ladybug took a deep breath, looking up to meet his eyes, and almost gasped. They were big and green and nervous, like he was trying not to get his hopes up. She bit her lip, color rising in her cheeks. “This. You and me. Us. I’ve always thought of you as my best friend, my partner. But there’s more to it than that. I’m so comfortable with you, like I can tell you anything, even though I know we can’t know everything. You make me feel safe. Alive. Ready to do anything.” 

“Oh,” he breathed, not moving an inch. 

“I think I want things to be different. I know how dangerous it is, I do, and I know we still can’t know each other’s identities but it doesn’t really matter, because I know who you are really. And I like you... a lot. And I deserve this- to be happy.” 

She drew her brows together, waiting, watching for some sort of reaction. He hadn’t moved a muscle, hadn’t even seemed to breathe. She bit down on her lip harder. “Chat?” she asked tentatively. 

And at once she felt his arms wrap around her, off where they were sitting on the ground and into the air. She laughed as her spun her around, setting her down in front of him with the same anxious look on his face, hands on her waist. “You really mean it?” 

Ladybug’s bright blue eyes met Chat Noir’s vibrant green ones and she took in his whole face, nose slightly scrunched up with happiness, hair she was still itching to put into place. She settled for gripping his upper arms and nodded breathlessly. 

His following laugh was the most joyful sound she’d ever heard. It was like liquid gold in her ears. He had an impossibly wide smile to match, not his usual smirk but bigger, more honest and open. Even with the sun having dipped fully under the horizon she could she could see how radiantly happy he was. She’d never seen him so full of mirth. 

He reached up and put one gloved hand on her face, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear and cupping her cheek. His eyes drifted downwards slightly, and she felt her gaze similarly drawn to his mouth. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, so tenderly and hopefully she almost cried. 

“Yes.” 

It felt like fireworks were going off above them when their lips met. It wasn’t their first kiss, or even their second, but it meant so much more. More than when she kissed him while he was akumatized, more than the peck those months before. This was warm, safe, she thought, leaning into his palm on her cheek, bringing her arms up to wrap around his neck. He, all quick wit and reflexes, was so soft against her lips, sweet and gentle and reverent. It felt like a whole swarm of butterflies was in her stomach. 

When they broke apart breathlessly, he was biting his lip, trying not to show how widely he was smiling. She wanted to make him smile more. 

So she did, pulling him down for another kiss, feeling him lift her slightly off her feet in his arms. She smiled into the kiss, trying to keep laughter from bubbling out. He made her so happy, she realized, pulling back from him again. 

“Hi,” she exhaled, grinning shyly up at him. 

He seemed a little dazed. “Did that just happen?” She nodded, giggling, and he ran a hand through his hair in disbelief, ruffling it further. “Wow.” 

“Wow,” she repeated, reaching out to take his hands in her own. “I know tomorrow we’ll have to deal with everything that comes with this, with keeping our identities safe from each other and from Hawk Moth, but for now...” She looked out at the deep blue horizon and the lights of the city startling to glitter around them. “I just want to enjoy this.” 

And he pulled her hands up around his back, embracing her tightly, their breathing syncing and his cheek resting in her hair. “Whatever you want, Milday.” 

It wasn’t until she was back at her balcony when Tikki re-emerged from her clasped purse, zooming around her head. “Marinette, I know you care about Chat Noir, but how are you planning on keeping this up? You know how dangerous the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous are!” 

“I know how risky this is, Tikki,” she sighed, looking up at her Kwami, who gazed down on her with some kind of parental concern. “But I’m careful. And it’s worth it... for love.” 

“Oh, Marinette,” Tikki said, landing on her hand and gazing up at her. “You really do love him, don’t you?” 

Marinette gently rubbed her Kwami’s head as her eyes found the building she’d kissed Chat on earlier. She could feel happiness bubbling up in her chest. “Yeah. I really do.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it, and please tell me what you think!


End file.
